A part of the Kailash pilgrimage journey is a site called Shiwa Tsal, where pilgrims leave some of their possessions here, usually clothes, shoes, or hair. The ritual is a symbol of death of our old life, and being reborn with a new spiritual life. Shiwa Tsal is ocated not far from the site of “sky burial”, where the dead bodies of the Tibetan people are placed in open sky to feed the vulture birds. Both sites are reminders to death. It’s a very important lesson from this spiritual journey: nothing is eternal, including our life.
Kailash, Tibet, 2005